Blood Games (57 page)

Soon after court was dismissed, Toni Whitt, a reporter for the
Virginian-Pilot
of Norfolk, approached Wayland Sermons to ask about Chris’s testimony.

“He obviously has reason to lie,” Sermons said. “It’s not the first time someone has testified to save his own life. I think the jury will see through his testimony. In four days of testimony, the only evidence the state has is from someone who did seventeen hits of acid in thirty days saying, ‘I, along with the defendant, planned it.’”

Bart was “incredulous” at the testimony, Sermons said. “He can’t believe the things that came out of Pritchard’s mouth.”

When Whitt returned to her office across the street from the courthouse to write her story, she began it with this paragraph: “Bonnie Von Stein showed little emotion as her only son, Christopher Pritchard, calmly told jurors Thursday about three plots to kill her and her husband, including setting them afire, cutting their heads off with a machete and stabbing them to death.”

Friday, January 12, was a special day for lawyers on both sides of the case. It was Wayland Sermons’ anniversary. And it was the second birthday for Assistant District Attorney Keith Mason’s only son. Both lawyers had been away from home for two weeks and wanted to spend part of this day with their families. Judge Watts noted the occasions at the opening of court and said that he would try to cut the day short, pushing on until perhaps one, then stopping for the week. Monday would be the Martin Luther King holiday, so this would be a long weekend for everybody, a break from the strain of the trial.

Chris again took the stand and identified the transcript of his grades at N.C. State and several photos, including one of his car, another of the parking lot where he had left the car on the night of the murder.

“Mr. Pritchard,” Norton said after the evidence all had been received, “you had stated, I believe yesterday, that in your initial plan with Mr. Upchurch, the fire plan, that you did not talk specifically about Angela, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How about in the burglary plan?”

“Yes, sir, we did.”

“What was discussed at that time?”

“She was to be murdered also.”

“And is there any reason for that?”

“Not any particular reason, no, sir.”

“What, if anything, did you stand to gain by Angela’s death?”

“The entire insurance.”

“All right. Now, would you state whether or not you have ever seen or heard or read Neal Henderson’s statement to the police.”

“No, sir, I have not.”

“And since the time of the murder, your initial conversations with Neal Henderson, have you ever at any time talked with him?”

“No, sir.”

“All right, sir. If you will answer Mr. Sermons’ and Mr. Johnstons questions.”

“Mr. Pritchard,” Sermons began, “you stated yesterday that during your high school days you had broken up with a girlfriend and that had caused you great stress. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And how long had you dated this person?”

“Three weeks.”

“And breaking up with her caused you what type of stress?”

“I couldn’t concentrate on schoolwork, family, friends.”

“Did you seek professional treatment for that?”

“No, sir, I did not.”

“Did you receive any counseling from school counselors, any ministers, people like that?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you discuss it with your parents?”

“Yes, sir, I did.”

“And did they help you through it?”

“Yes, sir, they did.”

Sermons took Chris carefully back over his testimony, an easygoing, gentle questioning in the beginning, as if Sermons only wanted to make sure of all that Chris had said. But when he came to the murder plot, he began zeroing in on inconsistencies. After questioning him about the conversation at the Golden Corral, Sermons asked, “And then you had another conversation later on in James’s room that night?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you recall whether James lived in a dorm or lived in an apartment?”

“I do not remember where he lived at that time.”

“So you don’t remember whether or not when you left the Golden Corral you went back into James’s apartment or back to his room, do you?”

“No, sir.”

“And then you say the next day, the Thursday the 21st, you either went to his room or his apartment, am I correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But you can’t recall which one?”

“No, sir.”

“And isn’t it true that you were the one that stood to gain if all three of your family members were killed, two million dollars?”

“Yes, sir.”

In questioning him about the weekend of the murder, Sermons kept bringing out that Chris actually remembered very little. After asking about picking up Bart and taking him to Washington that weekend, Sermons asked, “Where did you go when you got back to Raleigh?”

“To Mr. Upchurch’s room—apartment.”

“I’ll ask you, if you haven’t previously stated and specifically on the 27th of December that you went back to California and drank beer and got drunk?”

“That’s possible.”

“So you could have stated that on the 27th?”

“Yes, sir, I could have stated that.”

“And so that would be inconsistent with what you are telling us now, is that correct?”

The objection was sustained.

“Do you remember which one it was, Mr. Pritchard?”

“As I said, my best recollection is that we went back to Mr. Upchurch’s room or apartment.”

“And the next night, or the next day—pardon me—what time did you wake up?”

“Approximately eleven, twelve, something around there”

“And did you go to Mr. Upchurch’s room or apartment?”

“Yes, sir, I did.”

“And you still don’t recall which one, do you?”

“No, sir.”

“Then you said you went to a Kmart store. Do you remember where the Kmart store was?”

“No, sir, I do not.”

“Just some Kmart in Raleigh?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And then you drove to Mr. Henderson’s apartment, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You knew where Mr. Henderson lived, did you not?”

“Yes, sir, I did.”

“Had no trouble finding his apartment?”

“No, sir.”

“While you were in Neal Henderson’s apartment, you drew two maps, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And according to you, James had already been to Washington the day before, isn’t that also correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And according to your information, Mr. Henderson had not been to Washington previously, is that correct?”

“Not to my knowledge, no sir.”

“So you drew the two maps in Mr. Henderson’s apartment and you stated that you gave them to James Upchurch?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Could you have given them to Neal Henderson?”

“That’s possible, yes, sir.”

Sermons launched into a series of questions to show that in every incriminating statement Chris had made against Bart, no other person was there to verify it except Neal and he in only a few instances. He followed that with another series of questions hammering home that Chris had lied repeatedly to the police, his parents, and others about many things.

Finally, Sermons came to Chris’s statement to the police in the week before the trial was to begin. Chris acknowledged that he knew his trial was imminent when he made his confession.

“I’ll ask you did you not know and have in either your possession or your attorney’s possession a copy of the map that you previously identified you drew?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Isn’t it true that you knew that you had written that map in Neal Henderson’s apartment on July 24, 1988?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Isn’t it true that you knew that Neal Henderson was scheduled for trial in two weeks?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And I’ll ask you if you knew that Neal Henderson was prepared to testify that you asked him to drive your car down there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Down to Washington.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And I will ask you at that time, if you did not know that Mr. Henderson was contending that Mr. Upchurch actually did the killing?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You knew all of those things, did you not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll ask you if paragraph four of your plea bargain, your
deal
”—the word came out with disdain—“with the state of North Carolina does not read, ‘Christopher Wayne Pritchard understands that if he fails to abide by this agreement then the agreement shall be null and void and he will face trial on the original charges?’ Did you not know what it said?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And did you know that that’s what it said before you talked to Mr. Norton and Mr. Mason and Officer Taylor and Special Agent Young on the night of the 27th of December, 1988?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mr. Pritchard, isn’t it true that you knew that if you were convicted of first-degree murder that you stood a chance of being put to death in the gas chamber of North Carolina?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I will ask you isn’t it true that by your plea bargain you no longer face that possibility?”

“There was a chance if I did not complete my agreement.”

“And you knew at the time that you made the deal that that was saving your life, did you not?”

“Yes, sir.”

Norton attempted to counter any damage that Sermons might have inflicted by taking Chris through the reasons for many of the lies he had admitted telling.

“You were asked by Mr. Sermons about whether or not you were the only person to have something to gain by the murders. Was there anything that James Upchurch was to gain?”

“Yes, sir, fifty thousand dollars and a Porsche.”

“You were also asked about your knowledge of Mr. Henderson being prepared to testify, not only against yourself, but also James Upchurch. Did you learn about that in the courtroom at the various hearings that have been held in this case?”

“I sort of heard about it through the grapevine.”

“But had you seen the statement, heard his statement, read or knew anything specifically about what Neal Henderson was going to say?”

“I had no idea what he was going to say from anything that anyone had told me.”

“You were also asked by Mr. Sermons about whether you had discussed any other weapons than the knife. Had you, on the occasions in which you went to James Upchurch’s room, seen any sporting equipment, any bats?”

“Yes, sir. I had seen the baseball bat.”

“Where was the baseball bat when you saw it?”

“Generally it was leaning up against the heater by the window.”

“But you never actually discussed with James the use of the bat in the death?”

“No, sir.”

After a brief recess, Sermons had a few more questions for Chris.

“You were asked about a baseball bat that you saw in Mr. Upchurch’s room. Now where was this room?”

“On campus, sir.”

“So it was in a dorm?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, so you can remember now that it was in a room in a dorm that you saw the bat, but you can’t remember during the week of twenty through the twenty-fifth whether he lived in a room or an apartment?”

“That’s correct. I saw the bat when we played the games.”

“And certainly everybody that you have testified to playing the game had access to the room and was in and out of the room?”

“Yes, sir.”

Sermons established that there were two people per room, four rooms per suite in the dorm.

“Is it fair to say that suitemates are visiting each other from time to time?”

“Yes, sir.”

“In and out of each other’s rooms quite frequently?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do all kinds of things in each other’s rooms?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you certainly don’t know whose bat that was, do you?”

“No, sir.”

“All right. That’s all the questions I have.”

“All right,” said the judge. “Anything else, Mr. Norton?”

“No, sir.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pritchard, you may step down.”

Sandra Goodman was the next witness. She spoke in a soft voice, and the judge had to ask her to remove her gum and remind her repeatedly to speak up.

She told of meeting Chris and Bart and their friends in summer school and of drinking and smoking pot and going to California Pizza together. Her version of events on the night of the murder varied from Chris’s on several points that were summed up in the final exchange of questions and answers between her and the district attorney.